Fairly quickly in the story, Moonglum observes that Elric’s new quest – the defeat of some pesky sorcerer – is just Elric running away from his proper destiny and therefore rather useless. Their interactions bring some pleasant banter to the otherwise relentlessly moody adventures of Elric himself. Moonglum is Elric’s companion traveller and bears the brunt of Elric’s depression and his disdain for practicalities. The Vanishing Tower (1971) (originally published as The Sleeping Sorceress)Įlric had acquired a friend in the previous volume: a fellow named Moonglum. Even if all of these stories are variants on the same themes. And him dealing with gods, demons and sorcerers is appealing if you like that kind of garish fantasy. Seeing Elric create havoc with that creepy, moaning sword of his is just satisfying. They’re quick fast hits if like Winnie-the-Pooh you need a little something something at 11 ‘o clock or you’ll start shaking.

The thing about Elric is that despite all their shortcomings, these stories can be addictive. So if you just want to read some fun sword and sorcery, I’d say just dive in. On the positive side, for those who like to see some actual fantasy in their fantasy, the Elric books are satisfyingly stuffed with gods, elementals, other planes of existence, time travel, demons, sorcerers and dragons. Elric as a character is interesting as a concept but not always interesting to read about, as there is a lot of repetition in the text about his state of mind.

The stories move episodically from action point to action point, making for predictable tension arcs, and are communicated through language that is barely adequate and never beautiful. Moorcock’s writing is competent, but a bit bland and sometimes feels rushed. Much of what I said there also goes for this volume.

For a fuller introduction of Moorcock’s Elric stories, I’d like to refer you to my review of the first volume: Elric of Melnibone, the Elric Saga, Vol.

Stormbringer the elric saga part 2